Details on the Celebration of Life in Houston for George Floyd
Full details on Celebration of Life services to be held in Houston for George Floyd.
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Black Lives Matter
Parting the Waters: Disinformation and Misinformation
Disinformation is different than misinformation. Disinformation is information that is intentionally false and meant to trick, subvert or deceive. Disinformation is often used by governments to achieve evil ends in the absence of force.
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The Ft. Worth Cop Case: Another Conviction with Many Strings Attached?
In January 2019, when a jury brought back a guilty verdict against former Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke in the murder of Laquan McDonald there were loud cheers that justice had been done; namely a White cop finally tried and convicted of the murder of an unarmed Black. Nearly a year later when the jury brought back a guilty verdict of former Dallas cop Amber Guyger in the murder of Botham Jean there were loud cheers again that justice had been done; namely another White cop finally tried and convicted of the murder of an unarmed Black. The cheers didn’t last. In both cases judges ignored the demands of prosecutors for long prison stretches for both convicted murderers and gave them light touch sentences. The ex-cops would appeal, and there was absolutely no guarantee that even these sentences would stand. In the case of Guyger the sentence came with hugs, a Bible and hair strokes from the judge and a court deputy. The convictions and the kid glove treatment both former cops got is a glaring cautionary signal that convictions of cops the rare times that happen are far different than the convictions of those without a badge and a gun. It starts just before their arrest. Police officials quickly hold press conferences and solemnly promise a thorough investigation. Meanwhile, they leak any damaging and scurrilous information about the victim they can. That’s any arrest record, any family deviancy, any drug and alcohol issues, or any other of the litany of the character assassination hits on the victims they can dredge up. There’s only one aim and that’s to paint the victim as a bad guy. The unstated but intended implication is that the cop who killed was simply doing his or her duty and is the real victim. The smear job against Atatiana Jefferson was getting into gear when police flashed pictures of the gun that was found in her home. Mercifully, it fell flat when it was quickly noted the gun was legally registered and owned and Texas is an open carry state. An embarrassed Ft. Worth police
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Who Really Wins?
“Indeed, in America there is a strange and powerful belief that if you stab a Black person ten times, the bleeding stops, and the healing begins the moment the assailant drops the knife. We believe White dominance to be a fact of the inert past, a delinquent debt that can be made to disappear if only we don’t look.” -Ta-Nehisi Coates It is a sad reality that many around the nation are grateful that for once a White police officer has been convicted of killing an unarmed Black man. Last week, Amber Guyger was sentenced to ten years in prison for the unlawful slaying. On September 6, 2018, Botham Jean was sitting at home minding his business when Amber Guyger, a five-year police veteran burst into the front door of his apartment, fatally wounding him. The irony of it all, Guyger actually lived one floor below him and had been romantically involved with him. Yet, she claimed she accidentally went into the wrong unit and accidentally killed him in the process. So, here we are a year later, and it may be true that Guyger has been convicted of killing Botham, but I’m not too keen about instantly putting on the forgiveness hat. For the record, Botham Jean is dead! Sure, Guyger will spend a couple, maybe even a few years behind bars. But at the end of the day, can we truly say we have won? What about the many cases which don’t make the headlines and are not circulating around the nation as like this one. Are we to believe now that Black Lives actually do matter, because one White girl was convicted out of a larger number of officers whose crimes go unpunished? With that, I will conclude with the words of Emory University professor, Carol Anderson. “White rage doesn’t have to take to the streets and face rubber bullets to be heard. Instead, white rage carries an aura of respectability and has access to the courts, police, legislatures and governors, who cast its efforts as noble, though they are actually driven by the most ignoble motivations.”
We Have NO Voice!
By Publisher, Roy Douglas Malonson “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters.” – Frederick Douglass As it is, we have had numerous Black leaders who have come before US and paved the way. They taught us, encouraged and motivated us to look forward to a better day in America for Our race overall. In most instances, those leaders, who truly were prophetic in their teachings, tirelessly and unselfishly fought for US. However, many of them never got a chance to see their dreams’, words’ and prophecies to US come to fruition. Some even laid down their own lives, faced imprisonment or became martyrs in the fight for equality for Blacks. Yet, it is from standing on their shoulders, that many of our Black professionals, executives, elected officials and others have attained positions of power and authority. So why then is the Black community in such a dire need for a genuine voice to speak out and speak up about the issues which continue to plague Our culture? From the East to the West and North to South, we hear Black folks around the country screaming, “Black Lives Matter” – a rallying cry for help in the face of unjustified police shootings and killings. On a daily basis many African-Americans have to contend with acts of discrimination and other injustices, to state the least. But who can we really turn to? We have no voice! And it’s senseless, because we have so many of US who have the platform to do what needs to be done, but everybody is passing the buck. Either that or We have just gotten downright selfish and don’t care about the future of Black America. We MUST Understand nobody is going to ever give a damn about Our struggle, so We need people from within who do and are not afraid to be a voice for us. We MUST find a voice who will agitate and
